Dec 2008

The Mahout Memoirs

MONTH: December 2008
28.12.2008

COUNTRIES: Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam

SIGHTS: Sentosa Island – Luge, 4 D Cinema, Red Dot Museum, Asian Civ Museum, The Khmer Temples – including Romulus, Wat, Thom and Ta Prohm (Tomb Raider Temple), Tonle Sap Lake boat cruise and homestay, S21 - Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, National Musuem (Phnom Penh), War Museum (HCMC), Mekong Delta, Chi Chi Tunnels Tiger Falls – Dalat and Hoi An Old Town.
Wildlife: Crocs, Catfish, Monkies, Pythons, Rats and lots of birds.

TOP MOMENTS:
1. Boat trip in the Battenbang bird santary and climbing the 15 metre high viewing platform. Loads of birds including Asian Fish Eagle, Black Spotted Peligan, Egerts Cormorants.
2. Easy rider motorcycle tour from Dalat in the central highlands to Nga Trang on the beach.
3. Elephant ride in Lata lake.
4. Shooting AK47 – Chris Only
5. Price a round of 11 draft beers at Bai Hoi came to 55 dong = 1.80 pound

LOWEST MOMENTS:
1. Rain on Christmas day.
2. See the evil things that happen in torture camps (Khmer Rouge) and in the Vietnam War (or the American War as they call it here).
3. Eaten alive on lake boat homestay – Lil had 19 bites in the space as big as your palm and 29 in total.

SCARIEST MOMENTS:
1. Underground in the Viet Con tunnels – Lil only
2. Crossing the insane traffic in HCMC – just following a local to stay alive.

MOST USUAL FOODS:

Flame roasted Frog.
Roasted silk worm
Cockles
Chicken head and neck
Raw sugar cane

MOSTLY MISSING:
Hot shower
Normal toilet

MOSTLY HAD FILL OF:
Hawking and spitting – grim.

QUOTES:
‘Hey lady you wanna buy water...... hey lady you wanna buy baby’ – Cambodian lady outside Angkor Wat holding baby. (still not really sure how much she was joking).

‘Study is not important. Whats important is work and revolution’ - Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge.
'Its better to arrest ten people by mistake than to let one guilt person be free’- Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge.

‘Photo on passport here, you very handsome man.... today you not look so good’ – brutally honest reception girl to Tom (old ferndale house mate) first thing in the morning.

‘We are going to bomb them back into the Stone age’ – Curtis Lemay, Commander US Air Force, 1965.

‘I fall asleep in my Tuk Tuk, my boss have to wake me up’ – Driver an hour late to collect us at airport.

FISH CAUGHT: 14 including a large / tasty bream (Lil) / 2 small ones (Chris)

MOSI BITES: Lil = 30-40. Chris = 5-10.

TAN: Same same, no different.

NEXT ON THE AGENDA: Laos and Thailand

COUNTRIES: South Africa
SIGHTS: Garden Route – Birds of Eden , Monkey World , Knysna Lagoon, Dias Museum / Cape Town – Table Mountain, Cape Point, Kirstenbosh Botanical Gardens, Long St Bars, Camps Bay, V+A Waterfront / West Coast – Paternoster, Iziko Fossil Park, Cape Columbine Nature Reserve. Wildlife: Pegiuns, seals, dassie, right whale, flamingo, yellow billed kite, rock kestral, marsh hare, vlei rats, puff adder (skin of), baboon, cow shark, franklin, camelion and fish eagle.
TOP MOMENTS:
1. Catching loads of fish (including a large whitesteinbras) in the sunshine on the houseboat in Knysna Lagoon.
2. Taking a break in Cape St Francis and seeing our friends Paul and Taryn. Beating Paul at pool and fishing.
3. Wine tasting in the Cape Town area of Constancia.
4. Getting a great deal on our curios – exactly what we wanted for a cheap price with no hassle.
5. Seeing a large cow shark being caught and landed in Laangban lagoon.
LOWEST MOMENTS:
1. Losing to Paul twice at golf.
2. Paul and Taryns car breaking down hlf way through the trip.
3. Getting stuck on sandbanks twice. The first in horizontal rain. The second time for about half an hour as we pushed off one onto another.
4. The England v SA rugby game.
5. My hangover after a Saturday night on Long St (the worst so far) - Chris

SCARIEST MOMENTS:
1. Drifting towards steel oyster beds whilst stuck in the Kysner Lagoon – Lil
2. A close encounter with a very large male baboon – what are you meant to do? Run (it followed), clap hands and shout ‘yah’ (it ran faster at us), scream and make your self look big with arms in the air in last minute panic (luckly this one worked when it was half a meter from us). Adrenaline and heart beat very high. We had no food, i think it fancied Lil.
3. The 200m high cable car up the side on table mountain – Chris only.

MOST USUAL FOODS:
Fish selection – Caught by Chris: Spotted Grunter, White Steinbras / Other: Cob, Yellow tail, Pickled Snoek, Western Rock Lobster, Bokkoms (dried fish biltong ).
Oysters – Raw (farmed and natural) and cooked with cheese, bacon, breadcrumb or herbs.
Mealie maize, ham and beans.

MOSTLY MISSING: A good cuppa tea
MOSTLY HAD FILL OF: Overpriced accomodation

QUOTES:
‘ White wine is not good for me, it does funny things’ Taryn whilst holding a large bottle of white wine.
‘You always tell me to do stupid things like this – just let it climb on you foot Paul – why do i listen to you’ Fella to Taryn at Birds of Eden, unable to remove a parrot that took a liking to his shoe lace.
‘Peaches and plums good for your gums’ - Africa fruit seller, Laangban
‘ I not speak very lakka english’ – 5 year old African girl, Paternoster.

FISH CAUGHT: 1 Steppie (Lil) / 1 White Steinbras and 2 Gully Sharks (Chris)
MOSI BITES: Lil = 0. Chris = 0. A pest free month.
TAN: Ovaltine – blending like a local.
NEXT ON THE AGENDA: SE Asia – Thailand TBC. Otherwise Veitnam 1st.